Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya lauded the bowling unit of the side after the 38-run win against SunRisers Hyderabad at Sharjah Cricket Ground and said all the bowlers bowled really well.
Defending a total of 208, Mumbai bowlers restricted Hyderabad to 174/7 in their 20 overs. The pace bowling trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and James Pattinson bagged two wickets each while Krunal claimed one scalp.
Boult was awarded Player of the Match as returned with the figures of 2-28 in his four overs.
"We have really quality fast bowlers, obviously Jasprit Bumrah is our number one bowler with him bowling has strength with Boult coming in the side. The way Pattinson has gone about his business in every game. All the fast bowlers have been consistent and in the ring also Mitchell McClenaghan and (Nathan) Coulter Nile are waiting. We have good fast bowlers pool," Krunal said in the post-match press conference.
Commenting on the batting first decision after winning the toss Krunal said, "The strategy was to put the maximum runs, lat the end of the day anything above 200 the pressure will be there while chasing. So, I guess it is better to bat first and put up a good total and then bowlers can execute their plans."
"All the bowlers bowled really well especially the crucial overs everyone bowled. Every over, in fact, was crucial because the ground is small and one over can change the momentum. As a bowling unit, we were unpredictable and were ahead in terms of what we had to do," he added.
Earlier, opener Quinton de Kock's fifty powered Mumbai Indians to 208/5.
Mumbai had a bad start as skipper Rohit Sharma (6) was caught behind the stumps by Jonny Bairstow off Sandeep Sharma in the first over.
Suryakumar Yadav then joined Quinton de Kock in the middle and stitched a 42-run partnership. Yadav played a 27-run knock off 18 balls including six fours before he was picked by Siddarth Kaul in the last over of the powerplay.
Ishan Kishan and de Kock then added some quick runs to the scoreboard and built a 78-run partnership for the third wicket. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored 67 runs studded with fours sixes and as many boundaries.
Rashid Khan scalped Quinton in the 14th over. In the next over, Sandeep Sharma bagged Kishan as Msh Pandey took a spectacular catch at long-on. Kishan amassed 31 runs.
Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard added 41-run for the fourth wicket. Pandya scored 28 runs off 19 balls.
Krunal Pandya had a brilliant cameo with the bat as he scored 20* off four balls while Pollard remained unbeaten on 25 runs.
For Hyderabad, Sandeep Sharma and Siddarth Kaul claimed two wickets each.
( With inputs from ANI )
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